


Balhalla Bound

by ThatCunningSlytherin



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Belhalla, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, F/M, False Happy Ending, Family Angst, Family Fluff, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28918476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatCunningSlytherin/pseuds/ThatCunningSlytherin
Summary: On the way to Balhalla the troops of Sigurd's army celebrate the ending of the war and look forward to the bright futures ahead of them.Collection of short focal pieces looking at a player's paired couples as they plan for a future that will never be.Ch8: Fake Belhalla where everyone gets a happy ending.Ch9: True Belhalla in all its misery.
Relationships: Adean | Aideen | Edain/Midir | Midayle, Azelle/Tiltyu | Tailtiu, Beowolf/Raquesis | Lachesis, Brigid/Holyn | Chulainn, Claud/Silvia (Fire Emblem), Dew/Ira | Ayra, Ferry | Erinys/Levn | Lewyn
Kudos: 19





	1. Brigid & Holyn (Trouble with two)

“Aww who’s my little Patty-cake?”

The baby gurgled with delight as her father raised her into the air, before blowing raspberries into her belly.

“You are, yes you are.”

As Holyn kept their daughter busy Brigid was waving a piece of strawberry, pinched between two chopsticks, back and forth in front of their son.

“Febe, doesn’t this look good? If you eat this piece Mama will let you play with her bow.”

“No!” the two-year-old yelled crossing his arms in front of him, pouting.

Brigid sighed and hung her head, before looking back up, determined.

“C’me here!” she shouted, launching herself at her son who turned and ran to the other side of the tent while repeating his new favorite word: “No.”

Holyn watched the chaos while Patty hung upside down in his grasp, giggling wildly.

“Oooooh!” Brigid shouted in frustration, hands forming into fists. “Fine! Don’t eat!”

She shoved the strawberry piece into Holyn’s unsuspecting mouth before taking Patty from him and flopping down into their bed.

Holyn removed the chopsticks from his mouth before swallowing the bit of sweet strawberry left behind.

“Giving up so easily? That’s not like you.”

“After marching all day, is it too much to expect that my son act like a normal little boy and just eat?” Brigid snapped as she began to nurse Patty.

Holyn watched as their son poked his head out from behind the chest he had used as cover before Holyn moved to sit next to his wife on the bed.

“Ah you just wait, he is all gangly now, but once he gets bigger,” Holyn pounded his own chest impressively. “He will need to eat lots to keep up his massive strength.”

Brigid used her free arm to punch his gut, not with much force, but enough to make him grunt and curl in on himself for a moment.

“Oh yes, most impressive,” Brigid smirked. “He will need to be strong though…Jungby is sure to be in chaos after my father’s death and with me being gone for so long…”

As Holyn sat up he saw a sad look enter his beloved’s eyes, but he said nothing. He knew her heart ached over her lost years and the fact that her father died before she got the chance to see him again was just the edge on the knife.

He leaned over to kiss his wife tenderly on the head before turning his attention to the babe at her breast.

“Aww my Patty-cake is getting sleepy,” he said in the voice he reserved only for his young daughter.

Indeed, the infant’s blue eyes were slowly disappearing behind heavy eyelids as the baby continued to suck.

“The baby has had a long day,” Brigid cooed to her daughter. “Maybe now you will give daddy and I more than a few hours sleep. Hmm? Won’t that be nice Patty-baby?”

“No!” Febail cried, running from his hiding spot to climb onto the bed with his parents. “I the baby, I the baby!”

“You most certainly are not,” Brigid said sternly. “You are two now, two-year-olds are not babies.”

“No! I baby, see?”

Resting on his knees so he could see both his parents Febail stuck a thumb into his mouth.

“I am baby, see I am baby,” Febail said around his thumb.

Brigid and Holyn shared an amused grin that quickly faded as, thumb still in his mouth, Febail moved to push away Patty from their mother’s breast.

“’ey!” Holyn said, quickly grabbing his son from off his wife’s lap and into his own. “None of that now!”

The boy burst into tears.

“I,  _ sniff, _ want,  _ sniff,  _ to be,  _ sniff, _ your baby!”

Febail buried his small head into his father’s chest as he sobbed the dramatic sobs of a child.

“Aww Febe,” Brigid said sorrowfully as Patty unlatched from her nipple and she was able to pull her shirt back up. “Come here sweetheart.”

Brigid handed the dozing Patty to her father before taking her son into her arms and pulling him close.

Febail still cried, silent, but for his sniffing up the snot trying to slide down his face.

“Febail, you will always be my little boy,” she cooed, rubbing her forehead affectionately on top of his blonde hair. “But Patty is the baby now and in the future, your father and I might have even more children and they will each be the baby in turn.”

Holyn raised an eyebrow, smiling, as he looked up from the infant he was rocking. They had not talked about having more kids, frankly, they had never talked about any kids, both just sort of happened, but he found he was not opposed to the idea of a larger family.

“But you, my little Febe, you will be their big brother,” Brigid continued, using her sleeve to wipe off their son’s nose. “It will be your job to protect them, to keep them safe. For you see, one day,” Brigid shifted Febail so he was looking into his mother’s eyes. “One day you will take over for mommy and rule Jungby, you will use mommy’s bow to protect the people, including your sister. Now, do you think you can do that if you are a baby forever?”

“No mama.”

“No,” Brigid agreed before kissing her son on the cheek.

He giggled.

“Besides,” Holyn added with a grin. “After we visit your mommy’s home we have to go visit my home so you and Patty-cake can meet your grandmother. You will have to show her how strong you are.”

“You mean when she isn’t beating you silly for running away?” Brigid asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nah, once I give her the customary offering of a beautiful wife and healthy grandchildren for her to dote on, I am sure all will be forgiven.”

“That is because you are not a mother,” Brigid said tickling Febail. “My babies will never leave me, no they won’t, no they won’t.”

Febail shrieked in delight as he tried in vain to escape his mother’s deft fingers.


	2. Claud & Sylvia (Visions)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claud and Sylvia enjoy an evening teaching their daughter to walk.

“Lene, Lene, who is that? Ya, who is that there? Is that daddy? Hmm is it daddy?” Sylvia cooed to her daughter. “You want daddy? Okay, go to daddy!”

She slowly removed her hands from either side of her daughter. The fourteen-month-old stood facing her father, who was kneeling five feet in front of her.

“Come my little Lene,” Claud called softly. “Come to me, my sweet girl.”

“Da-da,” the little girl said, taking one shaky step, then another.

“That’s it Lene, come on, you are doing so well!” Claud encouraged stretching his arms out before him, ready to catch his daughter should the need arise.

Lene continued to take shaky steps forward until she reached her father’s waiting arms. Both parents cheered in delight as Claud lifted his daughter into the air.

“You did it, you did it my little Lene,” Claud said, kissing his daughter’s cheek before handing her to her delighted mother.

“Oh, there is no stopping you now sweetie,” Sylvia said rubbing noses with Lene. "You will be dancing like your mama before you know it."

Lene babbled happily as her mother squeezed her tightly.

“Come on, let’s have her do it again. This time I want her to come to me.” Sylvia continued, practically throwing the infant back to her smiling father.

“Alright, alright,” Claud said, kneeling once more as Sylvia moved a few feet away. “Little Lene, mama is feeling left out,” Claud said, setting Lene on her chubby legs as Sylvia pouted at him. “Do you think you can you go to mama now?”

Lene looked at her mother whose pout quickly turned into an encouraging smile, before looking back up into her father’s serene face.

“Lene-e, Lene-e sweetheart I am over here,” Sylvia called trying to regain her daughter’s attention. “Come to me, darling!”

Lene looked at her mother again, considering, before turning around to face her father and raising her arms up to him.

“Uppy, uppy,” she ordered.

“No, no Lene, first you have to go to mommy, then you can go up,” Claud said, fighting his first instinct to do as his child ordered.

Lene looked back to her mother who nodded vigorously.

“Da-da Lene uppy!” Lene restated raising her arms again.

Claud chuckled and did as he was bid, while Sylvia huffed and stood too.

“Why does she love you more?” Sylvia asked jealously, as Lene promptly gathered a fistful of her father’s long hair and pulled.

“ _Ouch_ , no-no Lene. She doesn’t love me more Sylvia, she spends all day strapped to you, she just misses me, is all.”

Sylvia pouted and put her hands on her hips. 

“Well then after we get to Belhalla you can carry her all the way to Edda, then maybe she will start to appreciate all I do for her. Hm, will that work Lene, huh, will it?” Sylvia said as she began to tickle her daughter.

“Do you think she will be eating by then?” Claud asked worriedly.

“Oh ya, our little chubby monster eats everything she can get her hands on, don’t you Lene? Yes, whose mama’s little eater? You are, yes you are!”

Claud hummed worriedly and Sylvia stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

“Don’t be such a worrywart Claud, I only breastfeed her once a day now and that is only because we are too busy packing up the camp in the morning for me to cut up her food.”

“I suppose,” Claud said looking down at his daughter, whose smile drove his furrowed brow away.

“Besides,” Sylvia said moving to recline seductively on their bed. “I am less worried about her and more worried about getting started on that brother of hers you told me about.”

Claude turned to set Lene in her makeshift crib, which was merely a handful of small pillows and blankets surrounded by a few stakes, before joining his wife on the bed. Sitting by her feet Claude ran a hand along the smoothness of her leg.

“We have no rush my darling, we now have years to work on making our son, decades if you wish it.”

Sylvia pulled a face at the word “decades” before sitting up.

“I know,” she said shyly. “But since your vision of your death was wrong, I don’t want to risk making the vision you had of our two children wrong as well.”

She made a fair point. When the meteors began falling at Velthome he was certain it was his vision at the Tower of Bragi coming to pass; the vision of his death by raining fire in the war. Yet when the meteors stopped and the sky cleared, he was still alive; it was the first time he had ever been wrong about a vision.

Sylvia had known about his vision and as he marveled at his own survival he heard her screaming for him as the army regrouped. Claud would always remember the look of her tear-stained face when they found each other in the crowd. The despair melting away, her chest swelling, eyes shining as she ran towards him. It was lucky Lene had been tied to her mother’s back that day else they may have crushed their daughter between their fierce hug.

 _“I…I thought...when the meteors began falling…I thought I had lost you,”_ she had sobbed against his chest.

 _“As did I, my love, but you were right,”_ he spoke before cupping her hiccoughing face in his hands. _“Fate can be changed; if we work hard enough.”_

She had sobbed again before squeezing him so tightly he wondered if maybe his prediction of death would be proven right after all.

But he _had_ been wrong, the war was over and he had survived, he would be able to watch Lene and their future son Coirpre grow up. He would get to spend years and years with his beloved Sylvia, be able to show her his home in Edda, be able to grow old with her.

“You never know darling,” Claud said, leaning over to nuzzle her neck. “I might not mind that vision being wrong too.”

Sylvia tensed and pushed him off her, her face alarmed, hurt in those lush green eyes.

“Why stop at two children?” Claud continued, smiling. “We have years now, we could have three, four, or even ten children if we want.”

He leaned in to capture her lips.

“Ten?!” Sylvia giggled as they kissed.

“However many you desire we shall have,” Claud beamed, love for his young wife filling him completely.

“I think I am good with just two,” she responded with a laugh.

“Then two it shall be.”

“And you will stay with us?”

“Until death does us part.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again thank you to Luna's Umbreon for the story.
> 
> The story is finished, new chapters will be added every day.  
> The next chapter will feature Edain and Midir.


	3. Edain & Midir (No Reason to Fear)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edain and Midir delight in their growing family and in the fact that nothing will ever separate them.

Midir turned over in bed as his mind began to awaken and when he opened his eyes the first thing he saw the golden eyes of his wife staring back at him. She was smiling that radiant smile of hers that was soon mirrored on his own face.

“Good morning,” Edain whispered, still smiling.

“Morning,” Midir replied before leaning over to kiss his wife. “How are you feeling?”

Impossibly her smile grew even bigger.

“I feel strong,” she said. “I have your baby growing in me after all.”

Midir blushed and lifted up the sheets to look down at her stomach. When she was dressed the bump would still be well hidden, it was only in the past week that her pregnancy was beginning to show on her lithe frame.

“What do you think it will be?”

Edain giggled.

“You know it’s impossible to tell.”

“Ya, but we can still guess.”

“Well, what do _you_ want it to be?”

Midir leaned over to kiss her again.

“I want a girl, a girl as sweet and gentle as her mother.”

Edain blushed and buried her face in the pillows. Midir kissed the little bit of cheek still visible before lightly brushing his fingers down her side. Her whole body twitched and leapt into the air.

“MIDIR!” she squealed as he continued to tickle her. “No, stop,” she protested through gales of laughter.

When he finally relented her chest was heaving, her face was flushed, and she was laying on her back. Midir cupped her face before kissing her deeply.

***

By the time they finished their lovemaking, the young couple had to hurry; theirs was one of the last tents not to be taken down in the surrounding encampment.

“Only one more day until Belhalla,” Midir said cheerfully loading the canvas of the tent into the back of a wagon.

“Yes,” Edain said with a grin. “Then it is off to Isaach with Ayra and Dew to get our little Lester. I can’t wait to see him again, he must have grown so much…”

Midir paused in the process of wiping the sweat off his brow to look at his wife’s downcast expression.

“Hey,” Midir said tenderly, taking her soft hands in his own. “He’ll be alright.”

“Hm, oh yes, I know, I know, I was just thinking about Lachesis and Beowulf. Do you think we should bring their son back with us to Jungby if she has not already picked him up?”

“You said Beowulf wouldn’t last the day, so I would imagine she is probably halfway to Isaach by now.”

“I suppose…”

Midir kissed his compassionate wife gently.

“We can talk about it when we get there. If it comes down to it, I know Eldgian had a wife and at least one child of his own, we could take the boy to them if need be.”

Edain brightened at that thought.

“Oh yes! That would be good, if Lachesis doesn’t manage to get to Isaach she will probably go back home anyway, we could take him to her.”

“There we go, that settles it then,” Midir said while knowing his wife would still fret about the other couple’s child while going up to fetch their own son. “C’mon up you go.”

He cupped his hands so it made a step and she was able to climb up onto Midir’s horse. They took it in shifts, trading between riding and walking as the army marched slowly to the celebration in Belhalla. There had been a great deal of discussion about whether they would even bother going to Belalla and instead just skip the celebrations in favor of going to fetch their son.

But after hours filled with argument and tears, Edain finally convinced Midir that they needed to go to Belhalla.

_“With Andre dead there will be many people who will eye Jungby’s prosperous lands greedily, conspiring on how to seize it.” Edain had stated. “Brigid has been gone for years, they will need my testimony and face to prove beyond doubt that she is Jungby’s heir.”_

The pure truth of her words and the reminder that he had twice sworn to protect Jungby from all who threatened it, once as a knight and next as her husband, is all that kept him there. But in the end he was happy he was going, the excitement was contagious and he too was finding himself eager to see what awaited them in Belhalla.

“Have you ever been to the capital before?” Midir asked looking up at his wife.

She shook her head.

“Papa was so angry when I decided to join the church, he cut me out of the line of inheritance. He regretted it later but that is not something one can rescind.”

The shadow of that painful memory crossed her face and for a few minutes, there was silence save for the clopping of the horse’s hooves on the ground as they began to march.

“Anyway, he brought Andre several times but no I have never gotten to go. I must admit I am excited.”

Midir smiled up at her, the early morning light was dancing in her golden hair forming a halo-like effect around her. It would not be long now, a day to Belhalla, a month to Isaach, then two months back to Jungby after they would still have a month to settle in before they had their second child.

“You know,” Midir said after a moment. “I think I can admit now that I was worried for a while back there, I was worried we would not make it out unscathed. I worried how I could possibly raise Lester without you.”

Edain looked down at him, pensive.

“You, I didn’t worry about,” Midir continued. “I knew if I died you would be able to move on but me…”

“What makes you think I could live on without you?” Edain cut him off, her delicate brow furrowed. “If I lost you I would be devastated.”

“Perhaps,” Midir conceded. “But you are, by far, the stronger of us, I have no doubt that you would do a good job raising our son, and now our new one, even without me.”

“Why are we talking about this?” Edain said, shaking her head wishing for an Omamori charm to ward off the evil of this depressing talk. “You are fine, I am fine and our family is going to be fine.”

“Of course, of course!” Midir said quickly. “I am sorry, darling. I suppose it is still a bit of shock that is really over and we are alright.”

“Well believe it,” she scolded with a smile. “You cannot be rid of me yet.”

“I would never wish it,” Midir responded smiling back up at her. “A lifetime with you would still be too short for my tastes.”

“Then we shall have to stay together even after.”

“Forever it is.”

The couple smiled looking forward towards Belhalla, and their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is finished and new chapters will be added daily.  
> The next chapter will feature Erinys and Lewyn.


	4. Lewyn & Erinys (Expectations)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erinys and Lewyn talk about starting a family.

“Hyah! Ho, Ha!” Erinys shouted as she swung her lance.

Up down and across she swung the heavy weapon, stepping as if she were navigating a crowded battlefield.

“I do love it when you get all sweaty.”

The voice made Erinys relax her stance and turn to face her husband and king. He was leaning against a training dummy but sauntered over to her after making his presence known.

“Although, I must admit, I prefer it when I am the reason you got that way.”

Lewyn smiled, she still blushed like a maiden.

“Did you need something my king?” she asked, turning away from him.

“My king?” Lewyn repeated with a raised eyebrow. “That is unusually formal.”

She said nothing just moved to her bag of supplies grabbing a towel to wipe her face. It was then he realized she wasn’t blushing; she was flushed with anger.

“You’re mad at me, why are you mad at me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Erinys said, setting her lance down and turning to face her husband, arms crossed in front of her.

Lewyn shrugged.

“Alright then, why are you running routines like you were about to charge into fresh combat?”

“Well as I don’t have anything else to be preparing my body for, I might as well prepare it for combat.”

“Ah,” said Lewyn, realization and then shame crossing his features. “That.”

“Yes, that.”

“Erin, I don’t see what all the fuss is about,” Lewyn said walking over to her. “We are both young, healthy, we have years ahead of us, why the rush to have children?”

“Mahnya, Deirdre, Ethlyn, Quan…” Erinys said, stepping out of reach of Lewyn. “Hasn’t this war taught us that young and healthy people don’t always get to live long lives?”

“That was war! The war is over, wouldn’t you like to spend the next few years seeing the world free from combat?”

“We can travel with a child if traveling is what you want to do.”

“Traveling with a kid? That would be worse than traveling while the nation is at war.”

“I want to have your baby! Why don’t you want to have mine?”

There was such anguish written on her face Lewyn thought his heart may break. The young married couple stared at each other.

“We have been married almost a year and a half now, Edain keeps asking if I need some herbs to help the process along,” Erinys said, breaking the silence. “Do you know how embarrassing that is?”

Lewyn said nothing.

“It would have only been only more embarrassing to admit that we aren’t having trouble conceiving, my husband just refuses to even try.”

Lewyn looked at the ground abashed.

“Just because our friends act like rabbits, does that mean we have to?” he countered.

Erinys shook her head.

“I thought…after all these years…”

“You thought what?” Lewyn demanded eyes narrowed.

“I thought you had grown up!”

She regretted the words as soon as she said them, he could see it in her eyes, the way they widened in horror. Yet she had said it, he had disappointed her, broken her heart again.

“I am going to bed,” she said, beginning to walk away, tears in her eyes.

“Erin…”

She shook her head, grabbing her lance and bag.

“Erinys!” Lewyn called as she ran off, tears streaking down her face.

It was some time before he joined her in their tent, time he had spent wandering around the camp thinking, debating with himself. She had bathed, changed into her nightclothes, and was laying on their bed by the time he pushed the flap open.

“Erin?” he called softly, unsure if she was sleeping in the dark tent.

“What?” she asked in a shaky, raspy voice most unlike her.

He lit two torches in the tent and walked over to their bed, seating himself cross-legged at the edge and she sat up to face him, wet green hair clinging to her face.

“I have been thinking about what you said.”

“I shouldn’t have yelled…” she began but Lewyn held up a hand to cut her off.

“Please, let me get this out.”

She nodded and he continued.

“I got to thinking, you are right, there is nothing certain about our future, any one of us could die tomorrow, and I would hate to waste even a single day letting you down.”

She remained quiet staring at him uncertainly.

“If you want me to change, I can change.”

“I don’t want you to change for me Lewyn, I fell in love with you, and all that you are. I just want you to be yourself and the amazing man I know you are.”

It was the answer he had hoped for, his heart swelled with love for her.

“The only man I want to be, is the one that makes you happy, and if having a child will truly make you happy, then a child we shall have.”

“Oh, Lewyn! Do you mean it?” she crawled over to him, her eyes huge in the darkness, dancing with joy.

“Yes, my beloved, I do.”

She threw her arms around him and pulled him into a deep kiss climbing onto his lap.

"Wait, you want to get started now?" Lewyn asked grinning, his eyebrow's raised.

"If you think I am going to give you time to change your mind," Erinys said her lips still pressed to his. "You don't know me very well."

She squealed in delight as he moved to throw her onto her back before beginning to pull off his shirt.

***

Curled up onto his chest Erinys smiled up at Lewyn who was leaning with his head on his arms an awfully smug look on his face.

"So what are we going name her?" he asked.

Erinys scoffed and turned to recline on her elbow.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, you don't make a baby in one go. Even now that we are trying it could still take months before I get pregnant."

"Nah, I will have you pregnant before we get to Belhalla."

The effect of Erinys' false outrage was lessened by the grin breaking out across her face and the blush that made her look like a green-topped tomato.

"So I get you pregnant, then we can travel about Jugdral, and we will teach our daughter how to live among the people and respect them, so when it is her turn to rule, she will be the best Silese has ever known."

"Hmm, that sounds nice," Erinys hummed, tracing a hand along Lewyn's chest. "Except the part about a daughter, it will be boys for us."

"You want another _me_?"

"The best parts of you mixed with the best parts of me, what could be better?"

"A king who might serve and protect the people? Sounds like a future worth living to see."

"Any future where we are together sounds good to me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters daily.  
> The next one will feature Azelle and Tailiu.


	5. Azelle and Tailtiu (Home)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azelle and Tailiu muse over their post-war home.

“ _Then the little prince rode off into the sunset with his princess by his side, and they lived Happily Ever After_.” Azelle finished before closing the book.

“Dat was a good story daddy,” Arthur commented leaning against his mother’s side while she stroked his purple hair.

“It was a good story wasn’t it?” Azelle agreed, nodding at his son.

“I liked the dragons,” Arthur said looking up at his mother.

“You weren’t scared of them?” Tailtiu asked, brushing her son’s hair from his face.

“No! I is brave!”

“You are?” Tailtiu asked feigning shock.

“Of course, he is,” Azelle said, setting down the book and picking up his son. “He has the blood of both Fjalar and Thrud in his veins.”

Arthur laughed as his father spun him in the air.

“With both thunder and fire in him what is there to fear?” Azelle finished, kissing his son’s forehead.

Tailtiu smiled sleepily, stroking her swollen belly as she watched her husband and son.

“Alright storytime is over,” Azelle said watching Tailtiu stifle a yawn. “Time for little dragons to go to bed.”

“I not tired!”

“Well mommy is, so bed.”

Arthur whined and Tailtiu moved to get off the bed.

“No,” Azelle ordered. “You. Stay. You have been traveling all day when Edain says you should be resting.”

“Can’t I even kiss my son goodnight?” Tailtiu asked sarcastically.

“Of course you can.”

Smirking Azelle moved the giggling Arthur so his son’s small chest rested in one hand, his legs in the other. Azelle held him parallel to the ground so the boy was face to face with his mother, still in the air.

Tailtiu scowled at Azelle trying not to laugh.

“Night-night mom.”

Tailtiu leaned forward to kiss her son.

“Goodnight Arty.”

Azelle swung the boy up and over his shoulder so when he turned around to take the boy to his bed, behind the screen divider, the mother and son were able to wave one last goodbye to each other.

Tailtiu chose to lay down when her husband and son were hidden behind the wooden screen, she _was_ tired, more tired than she wanted her husband to know. If he did he might have her stay behind and she was so eager to go to Belhalla, to see Arvis again.

Besides, she knew Azelle would bring Arthur along with him to meet his brother and she would be damned if she would be separated from her son.

She must have been more tired than she thought because she closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again Azelle was sitting next to her, kicking off his shoes.

“Sorry did, I wake you?” he asked, concerned.

“Mmm, no I was awake.”

“Sure you were,” Azelle asked, smirking as he bent down to kiss her forehead. “Isn’t there anything I can say to make you stay behind? Edain says we have two months until the baby comes, I can go to Belhalla with the army and be back to get you before we can see its head.”

“No.”

“But…”

“No.”

Azelle opened his mouth to try and argue but Tailtiu raising an eyebrow cut him short.

“Alright, Alright,” he conceded. “But Edain did say…”

“Edain, Edain, Edain, you do know you married me and not her, right?”

Azelle smirked.

“Only because Midir got to her first.”

Tailtiu smacked Azelle in the stomach and he laughed.

“Oof, I don’t know if I want you to meet up with Arvis, between the two of you I don’t think I will ever get a break.”

“Well, maybe you can sit and drink tea with Arvis’ mystery bride while Arvis and I watch over Grannvale,” Tailtiu taunted, before her expression turned serious. “There is something we have avoided talking about, but it needs to be dealt with.”

She huffed as she sat up, “Zay, where are we going to go? I mean, with Arvis as the next king does that make you the new Duke of Velthomer?”

“I don’t know,” Azelle admitted. “I am not a legitimate child and my father killed himself before ever claiming me. Arvis could legitimize me, but he has his own illegitimate child, a boy called Saias, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to legitimize and appoint me rather than legitimize and appoint his son. It might depend on his wife and how she feels about the boy.”

“Then where will we go? Since my…since Reptor…” Tailtiu cut off, tears in her eyes.

“That is something else we haven’t talked about,” Azelle said, cupping her cheek.

She shook her head.

“I…shouldn’t feel this way. He tried to kill me,” she wrapped her hands around her stomach. “He tried to kill our baby.”

“Taily…”

“I had to do it didn’t I?” she asked, her eyes pleading.

“Yes, and I hate him for putting you in that position, even more than I hate myself for not being there to protect you.”

She shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter, because of…the thing, I don’t think Bloom would let me within 100 feet of Friege without calling for my head. Even if he doesn’t blame me, his wife Hilda is sadistic, I wouldn’t want her anywhere near our children.”

“We will figure it out,” Azelle assured her. “You liked Silese, we could move up there if you want. We don’t need a castle, we just need each other.”

He took his wife in his arms holding her close.

“For the time being, we will go to Belhalla, have our teeny-tiny baby…”

“Teeny-tiny?” Tailtiu repeated giggling.

“Yes, teeny-tiny. You will have the baby, Arvis and everyone will dote on it and Arthur then we will see how things stand, Arvis may let us stay with him. If he and his wife are going to have kids it might be nice for them to grow up with cousins nearby.”

“That’s true enough,” Tailtiu mused.

“Just know, no matter what happens, we will be together, got it?”

“Got it.”

The couple smiled and kissed as the baby inside Tailtiu kicked happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter every day.  
> Thank you Luna's Umbreon for the story.  
> The next chapter will feature Ayra and Dew.


	6. Ayra & Dew (Twice Lost)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ayra and Dew miss their twins.

Ayra stared into her wine tears silently leaking down her cheeks when the flap leading into her tent opened. She hurriedly wiped her face before seeing Dew enter the tent.

“I got them,” he said excitedly.

“You did!?” Ayra exclaimed, delighted.

“Yup, just…don’t ask me how.”

Ayra gave her husband a sardonic look.

“Trust me, I learned to stop asking that years ago.”

Dew smirked, and from under his tunic pulled out two cakes and four candles. He placed them on the table in the tent, placing two candles in each small cake. Ayra lit the four candles while Dew put out the main torches in the tent. Soon the only light in the tent was coming from the four candles, the husband and wife knelt on either side of the table and grasped each other’s hands tightly.

“Happy Birthday to you,” they sang slowly quietly. “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Larcei and Ulster, Happy Birthday to you.”

Ayra was sobbing harshly by the time they reached the end, and it was left to Dew to blow out both sets of candles and relight the torches in the tent. By the time he rejoined her on the floor, her weeping was silent but her arms were still wrapped around herself.

Dew brought her shaking body to lean against his and he stroked her hair, his own tears twinkling in the glow of the torches.

“I…I miss them…so…so much,” Ayra sobbed.

“I do too,” Dew admitted. “I miss them every day from the moment I wake up until I close my eyes to sleep.”

“I…I won…wonder if Sh…Shannan remembers today is their bir…birthday,” Ayra said, pulling away from her husband to look him in the face, terrified. “Wha…what if…if he…he forgot?”

“Then we will smack him on the head when we get back to Isaach,” Dew assured her and she choked out a laugh. “We will see them soon Ayra, as soon as we get to Belhalla Arvis will acknowledge your contribution and thus acknowledge Isaach’s contribution to help end the war.”

“I know, I know.”

“After that, we head straight to Isaach with Edain and Midir and have our babies back by the end of next month.”

Dew cupped his wife’s face wiping away her tears and she gave him a weak smile.

“C’mon let's eat these cakes, I stole them from the western encampment, they have the best cooks there, so they are bound to be good.”

Ayra laughed and leaned her head against Dew’s, the two shared a brief kiss before moving to sit at the table. They ate the cakes in silence, the sweet taste not enough to drive away the bitter absence of the couple’s twins.

“Do you remember when they were born?” Dew asked after a few minutes silence.

Ayra eyed him sideways.

“Vaguely.”

“Hahaha, I meant that morning. You insisted on going out to the gardens at Sailane to prove me wrong that the garden had Lilacs, not Lavender.”

Ayra pursed her lips, half-embarrassed half-amused by the memory.

“I forced you to help me down the stairs, you were so out of breath by the time we got down there.”

“Of course, I was!” Dew protested. “You were eight months pregnant with twins, anyone would have been exhausted. But to top it off what happened when we got to those gardens?”

“ _ Your _ children decided they had had enough of waiting and wanted to see the garden themselves.” Ayra quipped.

“ _ Our _ children,” Dew amended. “But they didn’t offer much help as I had to lug you back up those contemptible stairs.”

Ayra laughed.

“It was luckily Lex saw us going up and fetched the midwife. Else you might have had to deliver them yourself.”

“Anything to keep from having to go up and down those stairs again.”

The couple laughed together and fell into a silence, warmer than before, as they continued to eat.

“Then who could forget Larcei’s first word,” Ayra said cheekily.

Dew groaned.

“No, please no.”

“You were up in her face every day trying to get her to say ‘papa’. I was starting to worry there was something wrong with her since Ulster had already been talking when what comes out of her mouth?”

“Shanna,” Dew groaned. “Weeks of goading and bribery and she says Shannan before papa.”

The couple laughed again.

“To be fair she was with him more, while we were out fighting, she, Ulster, and the other kids were in the backline with Shannan and Oilfey,” Ayra noted before her face fell again.

“Do you think they will forgive us for abandoning them?” Ayra asked hesitantly.

“Firstly,” Dew said, reaching across the table to take his wife’s hand. “We did not, nor will we ever, abandon our children. Second, they are so young it is doubtful they will even remember this year we have spent apart. Thirdly, we have the rest of their lives to spend making it up to them.”

“Yes, but…”

“No buts,” he squeezed their joined hands. “Ayra I promise you, once our children are back in our arms, nothing else will matter.”

Ayra nodded lips pressed tightly together as tears began to fill her eyes again.

Dew stood and pulled Ayra to her feet as well.

When they had met she had been taller, but after three years of growth for him while she had remained the same height he was now the larger.

“Ayra, I promise.”

She nodded and the couple hugged each other tightly as they wept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Luna's Umbreon for the story.  
> New chapter posted daily.
> 
> The next chapter will feature Lachesis and Beowulf.


	7. Beowulf & Lachesis (Release)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beowulf remembers his life with Lachesis.

_ “I knew how ya really felt all along…” _

These words echoed through Lachesis’ mind as she sat in the tent beside her husband. She wiped his sweating brow with the damp cloth and he murmured incoherently in his sleep. It couldn’t end this way, she couldn’t let him die thinking she didn’t love him

“Shhhh,” she whispered. “I’m here, I’m here.”

Her foolish husband and his damnable pride. He shrugged off the effects of the wounds he had obtained in the desert for too long; now he was…he was…

She shook from the effort of holding back her tears and busied herself dipping the cloth back into the ice water. The fingers of her hand were numb from the cold, several nurses had offered to take over for her, but she had turned them all away. This was  _ her _ husband she would not pass the job along, she wanted to be there when he…when…

“Lachi…”

Beowulf’s voice was so weak, his usually gruff and cocky tone replaced by something feeble and pleading.

“Yes, I am here, how do you feel? What do you need?” Lachesis asked, taking one of his limp hands in her own.

“Wa…water.”

“Water, yes I have water!”

Lachesis rushed to her bucket of drinking water and filled a goblet to the brim.

“Here, let’s get you up,” Lachesis said using her free hand to help prop him up.

He gasped and groaned in pain but managed to sit up enough where she didn’t think he would choke. He drained the goblet but only half of it made it into his mouth, the rest soaked his shirt and the bed beneath him.

Coughing he collapsed back onto the bed, but his eyes were open, which was some improvement at least.

“Lachi?” he asked looking at her.

“Yes Wulf, it’s me.”

“Lachi, you’re Lachi.”

“That’s right,” Lachesis replied with tears in her eyes.

“Where…where am I?”

“We are still at Velthome, you were hurt, so we stayed behind at the med camp, while everyone marched to Belhalla.”

“Where’s Diarmuid?”

Lachesis felt her heart sink.

“Beowulf? Don’t you remember, we sent Diarmuid to Isaach, that was a year ago.”

“Oh.”

Lachesis raised one of his hands to her lips, he was still so warm.

“He looks like his mama.”

“Who does?”

“My boy, he looks like a noble, like his mama.”

“He does not,” Lachesis countered with a weak smile. “He’s all rouge, like his daddy.”

“You should meet my boy, he is small but I can…I can tell, he is going to be strong.”

“I have met him Wulf,” Lachesis said, weeping. “Don’t you recognize me? It’s your Lachi.”

“My Lachi? Yes Lachesis, she married me. She don’t love me though, I…I shouldn’t have married her.”

“Don’t say that,” Lachesis pleaded. “It’s not true, I do love you Wulf.”

It was a lie, but she so wanted it to be true, in the stories true love could bring anyone back from the brink of death.

“She is so pretty though, and she was going to have my baby. Did you know I have a son?”

His eyes were glazed over and he was talking to the tent wall as often as her.

“N-no. Why…why don’t you tell me a-about him?”

“He looks like his mama, I think he is mine, I hope so, he looks like his mama.”

“Of course he’s yours,” Lachesis said with a choked laugh wiping hair away from his sweating brow.

“His mama’s so pretty and fierce, fierce as a rabid dog, I never loved a woman like I loved her, she’s going to have my baby.”

“Is that so?” Lachesis’ voice was nearly incoherent as she shook and cried.

“I hope it’s a girl, a girl who looks like her mama, I don’t want no boys. Boys…boys are just trouble. Trouble like me.”

“I don’t think you’re trouble.”

“She’s so pretty though.”

“Who is?”

“Eldigan’s sister, I don’t think I have ever seen anyone so pretty.”

“Oh.”

“Ya, she came to my tent last night, I should have sent her away but I couldn’t help it.”

His voice was a faint whisper barely intelligible over her sobs.

“It was her choice.”

“Lachesis, that is her name, Eldigan asked me to keep an eye on her.”

“Did you?”

“Ya I hope I can meet her, she is supposed to be a real looker.”

“Maybe someday you will.”

“What a name, Lachesis.”

His eyes slid shut and his hand went limp in hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters updated daily.  
> The next chapter will feature a "What-if" Bellhalla situation.


	8. Alternate Belhalla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The happy ending the characters deserve.

Deirdre ran into Sigurd’s waiting arms as the fires of Manfroy and Arvis’ magics collided, destroying the two.

Sigurd was crowned King of Granville to live alongside his beloved Deirdre and shortly after their reunion, Oilfey arrived bringing Sielph back to his parents and the three were never separated again.

Travant was slain in revenge for the slaughter at the Yeid Desert, Munster rejoiced as princess Altena was found alive. She and her brother Leif were brought to Belhalla to be raised in peace and love by their aunt and uncle, watched constantly by their personal knight Finn.

***

Brigid and Holyn brought their two children to Jungby where Febail grew to be a competent knight, Patty grew to be a gracious lady who would inherit her father’s land in Isaach.

The pair were to have many more children, all of whom served the realm well.

***

Claude and Sylvia moved to Edda with their daughter Lene, and eight months after the end of the war Sylvia gave birth to a son named Coirpre. Lene learned to be a dancer like her mother and enjoyed nothing more than dancing for her people and inspiring joy in others. 

Coirpre was doted upon all his days and taught to rule Edda with a gentle hand that inspired loyalty.

***

Edain and Midir traveled to Issach and reunited with their son Lester, after, they accompanied Lachesis and Diarmuid until they reached Augustria. The pair arrived in Jungby just in time for Edain to give birth to the couple’s daughter. 

There they lived for a time before deciding to travel the world, helping the lost and forgotten of the world, protecting the innocent, and living free of strife.

***

Erinys and Lewyn visited Silese before departing on their world tour. They visited every country blending in with the people, seeing the truth of the world left behind after the war. When it was time for Erinys to give birth they returned home and Lewyn took his place as king.

The two used the wisdom they had gained on their travels to better serve the people, not just of Silese, but of all Jugdral. Their son Ced, and later their daughter, Fee, were raised with those same principals and served the realm for all their days.

***

Filled with grief at the loss of his brother Azelle found joy anew when Tailiu gave birth to their couple’s daughter, named Arva, in honor of her late uncle, who died a hero. Azelle was put in charge of Velthome, and of his nephew, after Aida was imprisoned for her crimes against the realm.

Tailtiu chose to abdicate from Friege and instead passed it on to her kind-hearted younger sister.

Saias grew up as a brother to Arthur and Arva, and the three were raised to avoid the same trappings that turned their family to evil and the three were often found to visit their four happy cousins in Friege.

***

Ayra and Dew rushed to Isaach after Belhalla and were never to have been known to smile or cry more than when they were reunited with their twins. The two brought Shannan back to the capital where Ayra taught him the ways of Isaach and Dew taught him of the struggles the common people faced. 

Shannan’s friendship with Sigurd and Deirdre was the beginning of a lasting friendship between the nations. 

Ulster and Larcei grew up healthy, strong, and loved, with a keen eye for making trade deals that benefitted Isaach.

***

Heartbroken at the death of her husband, Lachesis traveled to Isaach and reunited with Oilfey, Shannan, her son, and the other children. She told them of the end of the war and stayed with Shannan after Oilfey took Sielph to his parents until Ayra, Dew, Edian, and Midir arrived.

She left with Edain and Midir for Augrestia, but found no happiness for her there. The absence of her brother echoed through Nordion’s halls and the accusing glares she felt every time her sister in law looked at her drove her to leave.

She traveled with her son eventually arriving at Belhalla to visit with the children of her brother’s best friends. There she met up with Finn and found the love she had not found with Beowulf. That love resulted in marriage and later a daughter.

Diarmuid and Nanna were not raised as a prince and princess but as the children of a knight. While never rich in money they had enough love from their parents that they never desired for anything more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like happy endings this can be your last chapter.
> 
> The next chapter will be the true events of Belhalla as they pertain to the characters in this story.


	9. Celebration at Belhalla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belhalla.

Patty was screaming in one arm while Feebail clutched his father’s neck nearly suffocating him.

“Brigid!” Holyn shouted as he ran through the chaos. Looking all around for the gold of her hair or bow.

A soldier charged at Holyn, thinking an unarmed man holding two small children would be easy pickings. Trusting his balance Holyn kicked the man hard in the chest, snapping several ribs. When the man collapsed on the ground wheezing in pain, Holyn walked over and used his heavy boot to crush the soldier’s head.

“Brigid!” Holyn yelled again before he saw it, a glint of gold in the distance.

Blindly Holyn charged through the fray to where Yewfell lay abandoned. Was this a sign? A marker he was meant to find and follow? Holyn used the arm Feebail was resting on to pick up the bow before looking around again.

A whole group of soldiers were charging at him, Feebail screamed and began to cry in terror. Gripping the bow so tight he felt its etchings digging into his palm, hating himself, Holyn turned and ran.

***

It was pain beyond pain, his screams mingling with others in the air. He was dead, he knew he was dead, so why couldn’t he die? The meteor had landed too close, burning off his legs, he was bleeding out. Sylvia was there, she was there with soot in her hair but she was unharmed, unharmed but crying. Why was she crying? She was going to live.

That made Claude smile despite the pain, she was going to live. His vision was right, all his visions were right he raised a blistered hand and placed it on her bare stomach.

“Coirpre,” he choked out through a mouthful of blood. “His name is Coirpre.”

***

Sylvia screamed as Claude’s hand fell from her stomach, his eyes staring, unseeing, at the burning sky.

Lene was screaming too, clinging desperately to her mother. She didn’t understand that her father was dead, didn’t know she would never again be able to walk to his waiting arms, or tug at his long hair. She only knew that her mother was crying and screaming, her father wasn’t smiling at her, and it was scary.

Sylvia redoubled her grip on the infant in her arms before leaning down and picking up a golden staff from beside her husband’s body.

Lene didn’t have the major blood but their son, who was merely a speck inside her womb, might, it would be his birthright.

“There’s one over here!” the shout of a soldier made Sylvia turn around. 

Three men were charging at her, lances lowered, weeping at the idea of leaving her husband’s body, Sylvia turned and began to run.

***

“Get on the horse!” Midir screamed.

Edain ran towards him and let him heave her ungracefully into the saddle.

“Ride, ride, and don’t stop until you get to Isaach!” Midir said using the top of his bow to dig into the horse’s flank sending it running. Her voice screaming his name was the last sound he ever heard, the pain in his back where the arrow shafted jutted out, nothing compared to the pain of knowing that he would never get to meet his second child. 

***

“Come on, hurry!” Erinys cried to Lewyn, landing her Pegasus.

Lewyn started running towards her when he heard a child crying nearby. Turning he saw Azelle launching balls of fire at the enemy soldiers trying to lead his screaming horse out of the fray. Sitting on the horse was the pregnant Tailtiu and the pair’s young son.

“Wait!” Lewyn yelled to his wife before running into the battle.

“Lewyn? Lewyn!”

Lewyn ignored his wife’s screams as he rushed towards the magical couple. Azelle turned, a fireball in hand, towards the sound of Lewyn’s approach but let the flame die away when he recognized the prince.

“Get them to Erinys!” Lewyn ordered.

Azelle saw the waiting steed and didn’t need to be told twice. Tugging at the reigns he forced the scared horse towards the waiting Pegasus while Lewyn used his wind magic to provide cover.

Lewyn grabbed the young purple-haired boy from the front of the saddle and handed him up to Erinys while Azelle helped Tailtiu slide down the horse.

“I’m not leaving you!” she was screaming at her husband.

“We will be right behind you!” Azelle assured her as he and Lewyn boosted her up behind Erinys.

Lewyn hoped the Pegasus would be able to handle all the extra weight.

“Daddy I scared,” the young purple-haired boy in front of Erinys said.

“Don’t be scared Arty, you must be brave, be brave for mommy and the baby,” Azelle told his crying son. He leaned forward and kissed the boy’s hand. “I love you so much, son.”

“Go!” Lewyn ordered his wife. “We will meet you in Silesia!”

Erinys knew he was lying but the added responsibility of a child sitting in front of her and a pregnant woman behind her made her swear before digging her heels into the magical creature’s sides. It spread its wings and took off into the air.

Lewyn opened his magical tome, the legendary weapon Forsetti, and began chanting a spell to blowback the archers currently aiming their bows at the fleeing Pegasus. As he blew them away Azelle fell, a javelin jutting out from his chest.

Lewyn stared at the young man’s face before charging forward, determined to find the one responsible, and to make him pay.

***

Dew and Arya charged forward, she seemed to cut down five men for every one of his, but more kept coming. The two were standing back-to-back as the circle of soldiers stepped ever closer.

It was of the twins the couple thought of as they were run through their bodies falling next to each other.

***

Lachesis rubbed the snout of Beowulf’s former mount, wondering if she should try and sell him or bring him along with her as a back-up mount. Then she heard the screaming and shouting start walking out of the makeshift stable she saw red in the distance, the med camp seemed to be on fire.

People were screaming and running as the fire’s near the castle seemed to burn brighter.

Lachesis grabbed the sleeve of a passing nurse and asked what was happening.

“It is the soldiers of Velthome, my lady, they are attacking us, we have been betrayed.”

Lachesis let the woman go and ran back into the make-shift stable. She hastily threw a random saddle onto Beowulf’s old mount, leaving the halter on in lieu of reins. Well that she did as even in her haste she could see the Velthome mages burning some tents while soldiers entered other med-tents, exiting with their swords dripping red.

Not caring where the horse took her Lachesis dug her heels into its side and took off into the night, hoping her friends were safe at Belhalla.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thank you to Luna's Umbreon for the story. I appreciate your work sir.


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